ET@MO Tips & Tricks Newsletter

Mizzou > ET@MO > Archives > October 2008

Advisory Board Adds Student Representative

ET@MO recently expanded its Advisory Board to include student representation. The board now has 16 members comprised of faculty, staff and students from a diverse range of disciplines. The Advisory Board serves as a forum for exploring issues and opportunities in teaching and learning served by technology.

New Sign-Up List Tool Available in Blackboard

Blackboard now has a Sign-Up List tool that facilitates activities or assignments requiring student self-selection. Options include enabling start/stop dates, limiting the length of the sign-up list, allowing reserve lists (lists of alternates), displaying names or list size, and permitting students to remove themselves from lists. Request a consultation to learn more about this tool.

Open Computer Lab for Instructors

ET@MO's Technology Studio for Instructors is available for open work time on Thursdays from 1:00 - 3:00. Instructors may work alone or with the assistance of an ET@MO staff member. The Studio has Mac and PC computers as well as seating for individuals with their own laptops. A wide range of software is available for working on word processing documents, presentations, audio/video, Web pages, and images.

7 things you should know about Zotero

Developed by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, Zotero is a research tool that provides users with automated access to bibliographic information for online resources. Zotero “senses” bibliographic information contained in a web page and—when the user clicks an icon—gathers that information and places it in the user’s library of sources. By automating the tasks of gathering, managing, and citing online references, Zotero facilitates a more efficient research process. Download the PDF of this full article. This information is provided by the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's (ELI's) 7 Things You Should Know About… series which provides concise information on emerging learning technologies and related practices.

CAMPUS NEWS

Classroom quality survey solicits instructor feedback
Instructors are asked to provide feedback on the conditions of classrooms in which they teach. Campus Facilities, along with the Advisory Committee on Space, the Office of the University Registrar, and the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, are evaluating all the Centrally Scheduled Classrooms on campus through a Maintenance Conditions assessment (by facilities personnel) and a Classroom Quality Survey (to be completed by faculty). Results relating to the Quality of departmentally scheduled rooms will provided to the assigned departments. Results for centrally scheduled classrooms will be used by the ACS in planning for future improvements.

EDUCATION NEWS

I'll take my lecture to go, please
It looks like students can be open-minded after all: When provided with the option to view lectures online, rather than just in person, a full 82 percent of undergraduates kindly offered that they'd be willing to entertain an alternative to showing up to class and paying attention in real time.

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Google phone rivals iPhone
Like its rival, Google's G1 phone offers a large touch screen and fast internet access. However, Google believes the handset's slide-out full keyboard will make e-mailing and Web browsing easier.

TECHNOLOGY TIP

Create useful media with little cost
Instructors using Windows can easily create short video clips for course announcements or for students to review topics. Windows Movie Maker, which comes installed on the OS, and a low-end USB Webcam is all instructors need to get started. For more information, contact Boden Lyon at lyon@missouri.edu.